Innocence
by XxScorpio-MoonxX
Summary: Claire and Peter discover the truth, and are sperated. Torn between her heart and hertiage, Claire returns and Nathan discovers them, demanding it end before the election. But what will matter to Peter more loyalty or love? Oneshot.Plaire, Inces


Disclaimer: Dude, I so wish I owned Heroes. I also I wished I owned the lyrics to 'Open Your Eyes' by Alter Bridge, however, wishing does not make reality so I'm screwed.

A/N: Ok, so this one shot has been running around in my head for like the last two days and it won't leave me alone unless I write it. Goddamn plot bunnies. Anyways, yes this fic contains incest, let me just mention that first off even though it should be kinda obvious with the pairing. I've always liked Claire and Peter, I thought they would have made a really cute couple….until 'Distractions' aired and I was like……oh…… whatever. Ok, I don't know their actual ages for sure so we'll just go with 17 and 23. I also had to screw with the timeline a little bit, but nothing major. Oh ya, and just a warning this fic has what I like to call 'angsty fluff'. Anyways, enough of my pointless rambling, on with the story!

Innocence

Peter sat on the balcony, pleasantly invisible to any normal human eye, staring at the streets below and wondering if maybe she wasn't out there somewhere. But even that made some tiny worm of guilt crawl inside his stomach. When he had met her at her Homecoming he would never have guessed that he would end up, not only saving her, but loving her as well.

Her remembered her clearly, beautiful long blonde hair, piercing blue eyes and one of the gentlest faces he had ever seen, not the face of a little girl, and not the face of a women either. It was soft, radiating the youth and the softness that comes on the face of someone who had not yet seen the horrors of the world, someone still so…….. innocent. That was the main word that sprang to mind whenever he thought of her because it was undeniably true from her girlish looks to her sweet yet determined nature.

He sighed and ran a hand threw his dark hair, trying to forget her and failing miserably. In a way he hated himself for the twisted love that that share…… _no, shared _he reminded himself for what seemed like the hundredth time. He had been the older one, 6 years older in fact, he should have been more responsible, had more self control. He once remembered her telling him that he was, to quote 'totally her hero', with that sweet little smile and he wondered what made him now.

_**Looking back I clearly see**_

_**What it is that's killing me**_

Her hero? Her lover? Her Uncle? He would have been fine with either of the first two, but the third one had been like a punch in the gut, shocking, painful and making him half sick. He could only image how she felt, falling in love with a man who turned out to be related to you. It was almost Shakespearean.

He didn't know how it had happened, he certainly hadn't meant for it to happen, but it did happen and now he had to live with it. He sighed, frustrated with not only the world and it's cruel sense of irony, but with himself. Closing his eyes, he let the memory replay in his head, the gap in his chest making itself painfully known.

_She had been staying with them for a little while after the Homecoming incident, and they had nearly been inseparable 'joined at the waist', his mother always joked even though Peter was pretty sure that she had a least a good idea of what was going on between them. The subtle flirtation, the look in her big blue eyes as she laughed at something he said, the hot sensation that the thought of her could send through his body. But mostly the strong desire to have her as his own._

_When he had come home that day, she had been flopped out on the couch reading some kind of magazine filled with……well…… whatever girls read about he guessed. Bored and tired they had simply thrown on movie, some horror slash that made Claire periodically have a disgusted look on her face as she swallowed hard._

_He hadn't minded her using him as a pillow, in fact, looking back he was sure that he liked it a little too much. _

"_I hate these kinds of movies." She said bluntly, reaching for the remote and accidentally brushing his leg with her arm, sending a cold chill through his body. "It's always the same boring thing…… run, scream, die…. can we all say new plot line?" He swallowed hard and tried to pay attention to what she was saying, but it was becoming very difficult. _

_Reaching for a different case, more for distraction then anything, he had somehow gotten his head right beside hers. Claire said something he couldn't remember and turned her head, making them about 3 inches away from each other. Time seemed to stop as the two of them stayed like that, Claire staring and Peter, Peter staring at Claire, who swallowed heavily as she began to lose some of her previous thought as the blood rushed to her head._

_Deep down some little voice in Peter begged him not to do it, told him it was totally immoral, that she was just a kid when it got right down to it, not to mention a guest in his home- but that voice was silenced very quickly as he closed the gap, capturing her lips with his own. _

_From the kiss alone he could determine her innocence, she seemed confident, but not exactly sure of herself or what to do as their lips moved. Finding the whole thing very cute Peter parted her lips with his tongue, gently massaging hers with his own and making Claire groan a little in the back of her throat. _

_His hand was on the side of her face as he continued to kiss her, trying to ignore the searing feeling in his stomach as she tentatively wrapped her arms around his neck, hands tangling in his dark hair. Everything in him told to stop, but it didn't prevent him from kissing her neck softly, right on the pulse point, and making her gasp. She sounded so pure, so untouched._

_The door slammed and he was ripped from the paradise of her as they jumped away from each other as if the other one were hot coals, trying way too hard to make their positions seem natural and that they knew what the hell was going on the movie, who's title neither one of them could remember. All he could remember were the sweetly seductive sidelong looks and the tinge around her cheeks. And the worst part is, she wasn't even aware of it._

_**Through the eyes of one I know**_

_**I see a vision once let go**_

_**I had it all**_

Peter told himself that he should have left it that, that he should have seen what a stupid and reckless decision it had been, but he had known from some past experiences that love is never planned out and very rarely makes sense. They had tried to leave it at that, they really had. After it had happened they had talked about it and decided that maybe they just pretend it hadn't happened. Ya right, and pigs would start flying.

He started at the cars below him, tempted to fly down and land on one just for the hell of it, but decided against it. His mind was too busy being cruel and torturing him with memories of her to actually let him have any random or spontaneous fun. It had been that way for weeks, ever since they had learned the truth and she was no doubt horrified and hating him right now.

_**Constantly it burdens me**_

_**Hard to trust and can't believe**_

_Claire………_ he shook his head, half hopeless, half hopeful. He glanced down at his cellphone and seriously debated calling her, but decided against it. She probably didn't want to hear from him, and certainly didn't need more things to worry about.

Running his hand over the chain around his neck he smiles bitterly. There's always something there to remind him of her presence, of her memory. But memories were kind of the problem at the moment.

_**Lost the faith and lost the love**_

_**When the day is done**_

_He had been laying in bed, but unable to sleep. That was happening to him quite a bit now, periods that whenever he slept, all he would dream about was the bomb, how it was always him. Sometimes it was just easier to stay awake and feel sluggish then to sleep and see yourself as a monster._

_He heard the door creak before he saw her unmistakable mane of hair and heard her voice, soft and melodic in a way that made her sound like a little girl._

"_Peter?" He voice was barely a whisper and he mentally noted that he didn't think she could wake up a bird speaking that quietly. "Peter? Are you awake……?"_

"_Ya." He replied, sitting up so she could the movement. Without hesitation she ducked into the room, quietly shutting the door behind her. "What is it?" She looked timid for a moment, something uncharacteristic for her, which raised his alarm bells._

"_I…" She paused for a moment. "I just can't sleep……I wanted someone to talk to too. Never mind…" She turned to leave but he stopped her with his voice. _

"_It's fine." He said, flipping on the lamp beside his bed. "I can't sleep either……" She smiled shyly, looking so goddamned cute that he wanted to stick her in his pocket. That was until she looked like her best friend had just died or something. "Claire…… you ok?"_

"_Fine." She replied in a completely unconvincing voice, one that sounded like it was about to crack. "It's stupid……don't worry about it. I'll be fine, really." The way she said he knew she was trying to convince herself as much as him. She turned away, her long hair hiding her face. _

"_Claire…" He tentatively brushed her hair away, reveling tears running down her porcelain cheeks. "What is it, it's ok, you can tell me…"_

"_It's everything." She said, tucking her hair behind her ear and staring at him. "The bomb, Sylar… I'm a cheerleader, how am I supposed to save the world? And I'm scared all the time…I'm just terrified that we'll fail and that I'll lose everybody…that I'll lose you…" She stopped to wipe the tears from her face, looking fall all the world like a little lost puppy. _

"_Oh, Claire……" He didn't know what else to say, but actions speak louder then words. Before he could even decide to do it, her face was in his hands as he kissed her forehead, her hair, her cheeks, driven by the need to somehow make her pain go away. She was still so young, far too young to be thrown into something like this. "Claire……" He kept repeating her name over and over like sutra as his lips found every part of her face, her tears salty against his lips._

_Even though they had agreed to forget about that kiss on the sofa, all was forgotten as he finally kissed her mouth, small pecks at first, gradually getting more intense until his tongue was once again in her mouth, devouring her. She moved her own against his, hands again tangling in his hair._

"_Peter……I-" Her was voice was soft, dripping with alluring innocence. Peter sssshed her, gently placing a finger over her silky lips. _

"_It's ok…your going to be fine Claire, I promise." Even as he spoke the words, he could feel a fierce desire to protect her firing inside his chest somewhere. "Save the cheerleader, save the world remember?" She smiled a little at this and her smiling made him smile as well._

"_But what if it was wrong?" _

"_It's not." Peter said, sure of himself. "I saved you Claire, and I promise, we're gonna save the world, ok?" She nodded and rubbed her cheek against his hand affectionately. _

"_Peter…I…I think I kinda love you." She said, looking a little frightened as she waited for his response. For a moment he was almost frozen in pleasant shock. Here she was, this perfect, beautiful, angelic girl telling him that she loved him. Peter had never been overly outgoing with girls, except with Simone and even that had taken more balls then he thought he had, which might explain why he didn't respond verbally._

_His lips crushed against hers with a fervent vigor, trying to throw all the emotion he felt for her into one single kiss. He broke away from her and kissed her neck, mumbling against her pale skin that he loved her, would always protect her, everything that came with mad, passionate desire._

_Somehow and some way she had ended up below him, her blonde hair looking like a halo across his pillow as he kissed every part of her supple body her could find. She had been nervous, gasping in pleasure as he explored her, discovered her in ways that she had not yet experienced._

_He paused the moment just before he claimed her, taking in the image and burning it into his mind. She was naked, sweat glistening from her warm flesh, her breasts rising and falling as she panted, her cheeks slightly flushed. Her blue eyes locked with his brown ones as her body trembled against him, half in anxious excitement, half in something close to fear. He stroked her face as he leaned towards her, barely visible by the dim lamp. _

"_It's gonna hurt, but only for a little bit." He whispered, lips brushing her ear. "I'll be gentle, I promise. Ok?" She nodded and he placed a kiss on her neck before lifting himself. He entered her softly until he reached her barrier, breaking it in one swift, calculated thrust. She had flinched, her legs tucking around him as a little muffled whimper left her throat. Even causing her this much pain almost killed him. "It's ok, baby, I'm sorry……it's ok…I love you…I love you……" His cheek was against hers as he let her breathe threw it, one hand holding himself up, one had placed gently on her slim hip. _

_He waited until her breathing went back to normal before he moved inside of her, gently stretching her and inwardly groaning at her tightness. He moved softly within her, letting her become accustomed to him as she furiously kissed him and timidly began moving her hips against his, a little moan rumbling in her throat._

_He had to pace himself with her, taking his time to ensure that she got the most out of her first time as she could. Her hands gripped his shoulders and ran through his sweat soaked hair as she threw her head back in pure pleasure. He was kissing her when she finally reached her climax, the scream lost in her throat and his mouth as her body trembled. He didn't last much longer then she had and finally he collapsed on her, sweaty and panting as her hands played with his hair._

"_Peter…?"_

"_Mm?" He replied, his eyes closing on their own accord as he laid in complete satisfaction and peace._

"_I love you." He smiled against her skin, lifting his head up to face her and give a lingering kiss._

"_I love you too, baby." She smiled at his endearment before reaching for something around her neck. _

"_Here…I want to have this." She handed him a glittering gold necklace with a 16 on it. "My dad gave it to me for my birthday last year. I was saving it for the first man I ever love…" She placed it in his hand and he smiled, knowing what she meant by love. He put it on his neck, letting the little charm rest on his chest._

"_I'll never take it off." He declared, kissing her before rolling off her so as not to crush her petite frame. She had rolled of her side, one arm thrown casually over his chest as he rolled towards her, arms encircling her hips. He could never remember ever having a better night's sleep._

_**Will they open their eyes**_

_**And realize we are one?**_

_**On and on we stand alone**_

_**Until our day has come**_

He almost hadn't wanted his eyes to open, wanted to fall asleep and relive everything. He missed her like hell, and the necklace tucked under his shirt did nothing to make her memory fade. They had spent a whole week together, pretending to be no more then good friends in daylight, but she always ended up in his arms when the sun went down and they were allowed to be who they really were. Claire had began to search for her real mother, finding her somewhere in Kansas.

Shortly after that, Nathan had gone to the same state with only the explanation that he 'had to take care of something.' Looking back, he should have picked up on it, or at least become suspicious, but at the time he could look about Claire, and how much he missed her. His bother had been gone for only a few days before he had returned with the news.

"_Peter, I think there's something you should know." He stood there, facing the window and looking very diplomatic as he turned to face him. "It's about Claire…" It was at the moment when even the tiniest bit of worry crept up on him._

"_What is it?" He asked, almost fearing the answer._

"_She's…Peter…she's my daughter." The words had hit him like some horrible blow to the stomach, almost making him stagger as denial crept into him, denial, horror and the feeling of something inside of breaking in half. He stood there for a moment, becoming pale as he struggled to say…something._

"_That's- that's great, Nathan." He had practically flown out of the room after managing that pitiful attempt at a response. He had barricaded himself in his room after that, feeling sick, ashamed and completely horrified at what his life was fast becoming. He jumped when his cell rang and he answered it, not bothering to check the caller ID. He knew who it was._

"_Tell me it's not true!" He could recognize Claire's voice, swimming with the tears that were swimming down her face. "Peter, tell me it's not true!" Even hearing her made his insides hurt with a longing that suddenly felt very dirty to him._

"_It's- it's true Claire." His voice was low, devoid of any kind of joy or spark. He sounded dead, even to himself._

"_No it's not!" She protested and he could only imagine the stress that she was going through. I mean, if he was distressed, she must be on the verge of a nervous breakdown._

"_It is, Claire." He replied, trying to stop his own voice from cracking. "I don't want it to be, but you're… you're his daughter…" There was nothing but sobbing on the other line as she fought to speak._

"_But I love you!" She exclaimed and he could hear the fury in her voice. "You can't be my…… I love you… we…oh God!" A single tear leaked out of his own eye as he listened to her, he quickly wiped it away._

"_I love you Claire but we…… we just can't." Peter said, his voice hallow as he tried to be impartial to the situation, but he just didn't possess his brother's cool exterior. He didn't even have a decent poker face. "I love you, baby…… I gotta go…"_

"_No!" She protested and he felt her pulling on his heartstrings but he knew that he had to hold firm for his sanity._

"_I gotta go Claire……I'm sorry, I wish things were different but they just…" He trailed off, fighting for words. But "I gotta go…" was all he could come up with._

"_I hate you!" She yelled, her voice carrying a fury that, before all this had happened, he could never have imagined being turned on him. "I hate you Peter Petrelli!" _

"_I know, baby." He closed his phone, feeling a weight in his chest that was almost suffocating him. Another tear leaked from his eye and he wiped it away just as there was a knock on his door. _

"_Peter?" Nathan. "You in there?" He took a deep breath, forcing himself into a false state of calm as he opened the door, leaning on the door frame casually._

"_Ya?" He could tell by the look on Nathan's face that he hadn't come to tell him that dinner was ready. "Everything ok?"  
_

"_That's what I'm wondering." He answered coolly, staring down his younger brother. "I need to ask you something Peter…and I want you to be honest."_

"_Shoot." _

"_Did something happen between you and Claire?" Something like ice hit his stomach and he stood in complete terror for a moment before one solution and one solution came into his mind - lie. Lie like he had lied before in his life._

"_No, of course not." He answered calmly. "What on earth would you think that?"_

"_Your reaction earlier was kind of……suspicious." Nathan explained. "You looked disgusted." _

"_Shocked." Was the calm answer. "Really shocked. I never would have guessed, she looks nothing like you." The light humor served as a good distraction and Nathan let down his guard a little._

"_Ya, she really doesn't, does she?" Nathan smiled a little before getting back on track. "Well… that's good, I was worried for a minute there." Peter faked a smile before he dismissed his brother and went back to his room, staring at his phone. Half of him wished like hell that it would ring and he could hear her voice again, but to be honest, he wasn't sure that he would know what to do even if it did._

_**When they open their eyes**_

_**And realize we are one?**_

He hadn't seen or heard from her again after that, and three weeks had gone by since. He knew that he was falling into a depression, as much as he hid it from everyone around him, he couldn't deny it to himself. He had taken to becoming invisible most of the time, just to avoid questions and the sidelong glances.

So naturally when the doorbell rang, he didn't really care until he heard an all too-familiar voice. For a moment he was sure he was going insane, that his longing for her had forced him to hear her voice everywhere, but then Nathan's voice joined it and he knew that he was very much sane.

Heart racing he ran down the stairs, invisible as he entered the lobby. And there she was, standing like something from a dream, looking nervous, jittery, her eyes darting everywhere as she looked right through him.

_**I love the way I feel today**_

_**But how I know the sun will fade**_

Nathan had been the perfect gentleman of course, welcoming her, setting up a room for her and then leaving her to her own devices, Peter behind her every step. He watched as she wondered around the room, running her hands over surfaces, fabrics.

Finally she stopped and sat the bed, looking unsure of herself as she sighed. Even this felt wrong to him now, watching her without her knowledge seemed not only creepy, but somehow morally wrong. He mentally wondered if somehow Claude had rubbed off on him a little bit. In his distraction with her his hand had slipped, sending a figurine onto the ground.

Her head snapped in his direction so fast that he thought it might snap, not that it would injure the indestructible cheerleader. She stared from the figurine to the dresser it had fallen from and then her eyes darted around the room.

"I know it's you Peter." She said softly, looking nervous. He didn't dare to move and remained solely in one spot, hardly daring to breathe. "Peter….. just come out. Don't make this any harder…ok?" As mush as he wanted to take the easy way out and sneak out of her room somehow he let down his power, once again becoming visible.

There was a long moment of silence in which they just stared at each other, each waiting for the other to say something. Finally it was Peter who broke the silence, but instead of opening it with something dumb and trivial, got right to the root of his question.

"Why did you come back…..?" She was silent for a moment, suddenly becoming fascinated with the floor.

"I-" She paused for a moment, blue eyes searching for something other then Peter to stare at. "I…..I wanted you to know that I didn't really mean what I said…..about hating you….. I'm sorry, I shouldn't have come….. I'll just leave we'll forget it was ever here K?"

_**Darker days seem to be**_

_**What will always live in me**_

_**But still I run**_

"No…….don't." She stopped reaching for her bag and stared at him. There was so much awkwardness in the room that it was almost stifling.

"I wanted to see you." She said, looking ashamed of herself. "I……. I missed you…."

"Claire…….. we can't…… you know we can't……" He was almost pleading with her, begging her to stop.

"You think I don't know that?" She replied harshly, looking angry now. "You don't think that I know coming here was a mistake? I hate it, Peter. Dreaming about you……thinking about you…… I can't stand it anymore!" Angry tears were pricking the corners of her eyes now as she looked at him. He couldn't hold her gaze and he felt sick at himself for it. She stood up and walked towards him, stopping about a foot away from him. "You can't even look at me anymore…… please, Peter…… can we just go back to how things were…..? I don't care if your….if we're……." She couldn't say it, as if saying it aloud would make it true. "I love you…….. that's why I'm here." He swallowed hard as he forced himself to look at her, looking for all the world like a tiny china doll as he big blue eyes stared up at him, shimmering in the light.

He couldn't breathe, he couldn't think, all he could do was think about how much he wanted her, needed her, loved her. The voice in the back of his head, the one that still held the years of his mother's and society's views, screamed at him to stop, that she was his niece, that he was related to her and that everything he felt for he was wrong, dirty. However he told that part of his brain to fuck right the hell off as he again kissed her.

_**It's hard to walk this path alone**_

_**Hard to know which way to go**_

The sensation it caused could only be described as entrancing, like feeding an addiction. His hands gripped her hips and they kissed furiously, desire, passion, and the ravenous hunger to make up for lost time running through them.

Clothes flew off as their tongues battled and them somehow ended up in the shower, the water raining down on their naked bodies. Her back was pressed against the shower wall as he held her up, lifting her legs so that they wrapped around him. She panted in anticipation of him once again inside her, with her, making up for the hours, days, weeks that they had been apart.

The first time around neither of them had the strength nor the willpower to make it anything other then a quickie, but as more time passed and the shower became colder, (They eventually just turned off the water) their lovemaking become slower, lingering.

"I love you so much." Claire said as she sat on her bed, naked, wet and completely unable to feel her legs from the waist down. Her head was in his lap as he gently ran his hair threw her long curls.

"I love you too." He answered, just as there was a knocked on the door. Claire bolted up and grabbed a robe, throwing it around her otherwise naked body. Glancing behind her quickly to ensure that Peter had made himself invisible, she opened the door, revealing Nathan.

"Oh, hi." She said brightly, running a casual hand threw her damp blonde hair.

"Who were you talking to?" He inquired, looking inside the room and only finding air. Claire feigned confusion as she looked around, as if puzzled.

"No-one." She answered, tilting her head to one side. Nathan shrugged, puzzled with himself as he turned back to the girl who he had only recently discovered was his long-lost daughter.

"Never mind. Have you seen Peter?"

"Uh…..no." She said, pausing and looking like she was thinking back throughout the day. "Come to think of it, I haven't. I think he's done his disappearing act again." It was all Peter could do not to laugh at the highly amusing pun. He could just imagine Claire grinning devilishly to herself. Nathan nodded and then left, Claire closing the door behind him. Peter became visible again as Claire turned on the TV to drown out their voices. She sat beside him, leaning against his toned body as she draped a loving arm over his shoulders.

_**Will I ever save this day?**_

_**Will it ever change?**_

"You know something?" She asked, turning to face him as she straddled him playfully.

"What's that?" He asked as she brought her face close to his so that their noses were touching.

"You're still my hero." The words made him smile as he wrapped his arms around her body, the thin material of her robe against his hands.

"Oh really?" He kissed her lightly before laying his cheek against her neck, lightly kissing her shoulder in a sensually affectionate way.

"Totally." She replied, closing her eyes against the pleasant feeling. She returned the kisses, her lips brushing against his throat as he gripped her hips. He was sorely tempted to remove her robe and make love to her, but he didn't, merely laying down before he tickled her sides, making her laugh as she toppled off of him onto the bed.

The remained like that for a little while, bugging and playing with each other, both of them careful not to bring up the subject of Nathan's fatherhood. When supper was finally ready Claire went down on her own as Peter became invisible and sneaked outside before walking in casually, one again visible. Both of them acted as if they had just seen each other and were happy about the fact that they were family. They were so caught in their act that they didn't notice the unmistakably dark expression that went across Nathan's face.

_**Will they open their eyes**_

_**And realize we are one?**_

That night, after Claire had gone upstairs to watch some TV and get aquatinted with the place that was currently serving as her 'home away from home', Nathan had pulled Peter aside into his office, his eyes dark. Peter stared at his brother's hard eyes and felt something close to fear in his stomach.

"It over, Peter." His voice was low, dangerous, his eyes like chips of ice. Peter's heart dropped somewhere into his stomach. A thousand thoughts and excuses were running through his head like lightening, but served no purpose as he opened his mouth.

"I don't know what-"

"You know damn well what." Nathan interrupted. "Claire. I know what's going Peter, and I can't begin to tell you how disgusted I am. Not only is she a teenager - she's still in high school for Christ sake's! -, but she's your _niece_ Peter! " Peter opened his mouth and shut it again quickly, deciding that silence was the safest route. He should have known that would happen eventually. Nothing ever came free to people like him, to like heroes. They were always made the suffer for everything. "I can't understand what I've done to make you want to humiliate like this - and right before the election! Do you know what could happen to me if this leaked to the press??? It's bad enough I have some illegitimate daughter popping up out of nowhere!" At these words, Peter could feel a rage building inside of him and he fought to control it, but in all honesty he didn't want to.

_**Still today we carry on**_

_**I know our day will come**_

"That's what it's all about with you isn't it?" Peter said, straining to remain calm. "That's all it's ever been about - your fucking election! Ever consider that maybe your family needs you more then the country right now? Or is that just too damn inconvenient for you?" Peter could feel his control slipping little by little as anger for his brother grew, sending a hot feeling through his chest. Nathan stood there, looking like he could kill something.

"Maybe you should realize that I'm doing this for my family!" He retorted. "I'm doing this for us…. for the world. That's what you don't understand Peter." Peter shook his head angrily, staring his brother down.

"No, it's about you." He said. "There's no gain for us, except maybe more money, but even that's mainly for you. Even in the beginning when everyone thought I tried to kill myself, everything had to be hidden because of _you_, not us, _you _because you couldn't afford to have a flaw in your life! You had be so goddamn perfect just so people would elect you to run the damn country! You nothing but a corporate sellout, Nathan. Just admit it - you couldn't spare the time to help your fuck-up brother because that might cause bad press!" Peter was shouting now, all the thoughts, emotions and anger that he had held for his brother coming out in a rush.

"I'm not sleeping with members of my own family, so it really doesn't matter whether I'm a sellout or not. You thought you were so clever, turning yourself invisible when I knocked on the door, but I could see the imprint of your body in the bed, you forgot about that." Peter's eyes turned - if possible - even stormier then they were before.

_**When they open their eyes**_

_**And realize we are one?**_

"I love her." His voice was low, fierce with passion and fire. "I loved her even before we knew that……. that she was your daughter. I tried to stop it then, Nathan, I really did, but I can't help the way I feel about her. She's the one person in my life that's never abandoned me, never fucked me over. I thought I loved Simone….. but I didn't. And she never felt the same anyway, not even the day she died." Nathan sighed. He talked about her with such passion, such fierce loyalty that a part of him was almost moved, almost wanted to accept it. But the other part of him, the congressmen, told him that if he had a prayer of winning this election, that this couldn't go on.

"It has to stop Peter." He said firmly. "There's far too much at risk here!"

"I don't see any risk for anyone other then you, and this isn't about you, Nathan. For once something is not about you! I love her, and I'm not going to stop loving her, I don't give a damn about your election, Nathan, I give a damn about _Claire._"

"Get out." Nathan said, his eyes fixed on his brother with something that resembled hatred. "Take her, and get out."

"Fine." Peter replied, turning heel and walking out of the room without so much as a backward glance. Upstairs Claire sat in her bed, hugging a pillow and listening to the screaming. She couldn't make out much but she had the main idea. Peter and Nathan were fighting, and Claire was sure that Nathan knew about them. In fact, she wasn't really surprised when Peter threw open her door, looking angrier then she could ever remember seeing him. "We're leaving. Get your stuff."

"What?" She asked, shocked as Peter reached for her things, throwing what little she had unpacked back into the suitcase. "What's going on?" 

"He knows." Peter said, not looking up at her as he continued with his task. "He told me to stop being with you and I wouldn't, so we're leaving." At this, something in Claire's chest suddenly felt heavy. She knew that coming back here had been a mistake, and now Peter was going to pay for it.

"No." She said, placing a hand on his shoulder as he stood up, staring into her eyes. "I'm leaving. I shouldn't never have come back here. You belong with your family, Peter. I'm not letting you take the fall for me. I can't ask you to choose your family over me."

"I never heard you ask a thing." Peter replied, trying his best to control his frustration and anger. Even being around Claire wasn't fully doing the trick right now. "And that bastard downstairs is no family of mine. He cares more about his election more then his own fucking family. That's the only reason he wants us gone, because we could screw it up for him. I love you Claire, and you're not leaving without me, got it?" She nodded slowly, looking down at the ground. Peter cupped her chin, lifting her head. "Hey….. it's gonna be ok, alright? I promise." She nodded sadly as Peter threw her suitcase over his shoulder before walking into his own room and filling a suitcase of his own.

_**Will they open their eyes**_

_**And realize we are one?**_

"Are you sure about this?" She asked, her innocent blue eyes staring up at him, making her almost look like a child. "We have nowhere to go, we-"

"Have each other." Peter finished for her. "That's all I need." At this she smiled a little, half sweetly, half bitterly. She followed Peter down the stairs where Nathan was waiting for them by the door. She adverted her eyes, not daring to look at him. Just then his mother came into the room, looking confused.

"Nathan….. Nathan what's going on here?"

"Nothing." He said as she watched her two sons stare each other down.

"I'm leaving." Peter explained shortly. "And so is Claire."

"This is absurd!" She protested, looking confused and someone annoyed. "Put those suitcases away, no-one's going anywhere! We can't have this kind of nonsense going on right before the election!"

"We can't have those two sleeping together before the election, either." At this, she looked horrified as she stared at Peter as if he was something repulsive, something that needed getting rid of - quickly.

"Peter….. I……. how could you……. she's your niece! She's barely more then a child! I never……" She searched for words and finally just looked at him. "I thought I raised you better then this, Peter. I thought I raised you to value your family….. I…… just go."

_**its hard to walk this path alone**_

_**hard to know which way to go**_

"More then happy." He said, walking past Peter and out the door, Claire right behind him until she was stopped by her Grandmother's hand.

"Your making a mistake Claire." She said gently. "You have everything you ever need here, everything you've always wanted…… don't throw it away."

"Get your goddamn hand off me." She snarled, looking like a wet cat with it's ears pressed back against it's head. "I love him." She ripped her arm from the older woman's grasp, looking like she was going to spit on her or something. She turned around and followed Peter without a backwards glance.

He had already hailed a cab and was putting their cases in the trunk. Some hours they had found themselves in a hotel, their suitcases on the floor as Claire stared off into space.

"We're going to be fine." He assured her, running his hands threw her hair. "I have enough money to last for awhile, until I can get a nursing job again, find an apartment…."

"I know, it's just…." She paused for a moment, looking like she about to cry. "It's my fault…… all of it. If I hadn't come back, this wouldn't have happened….. it's because of me."

_**Will they open their eyes**_

_**and realize we are one**_

_**lost the faith and lost the love when the day is done**_

"Hey, you listen to me." He said, readjusting himself so that he could stare directly into her soft face. "Me and my brother have been fighting for years, alright? If it wasn't you, it would have been something else. There's nowhere I would rather be right now then right here, in this room, staring at you." She smiled at little and a single tear fell from her eye as she hugged him, allowing him to kiss her face and finally her lips.

He sighed as they both stared at the window, at the hundreds of lights that littered New York. They didn't know what the morning had in store for them, but Peter could still taste her innocence as he placed a gentle kiss on her lips and breathed in her scent.

That was all he needed.

That was all he would ever need.

_**Will they open their eyes**_

_**And realize we are one?**_

A/N:

Well, there we go! Whheew, that was a long one. Anyways, I'm really, really happy with how this fic turned out. It actually exceeded my expectations which, trust me, doesn't happen a lot. I was actually surprised with how perfectly the lyrics fit the story, but when I heard it, they were the first thing I though of. Anyways, enough of me gloating, lol. Please, leave a review and let me know what you think. I'm, really proud of this fic so I would greatly appreciate so feedback from you awesome people!

I also have quite a few other Heroes fics if you want check them out, just a thought. Anyways ttyl!


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